Hand Chucker or XYZ Brand Thrower?

dak47

dak47

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Katy TX & Okanagan BC
So we are new to busting clays, barely had any time for hunting and all that. Now that things are finally winding down career wise the wife and I do have more time, I gave my oldest a nice BPS and a few of the kids expressed interest in clay shooting. We have great fun with airgun competitions downstairs for some tidy $$ prizes and this seems a natural extension as the kids are all adults and we are a competitive family.
Will a hand held thrower suffice? I even thought of putting a PVC pipe as a handle extension? I realize consistency could be an issue... Or what thrower could be easily loaded on an atv for a trip to the ravine? Been snooping Cabelas but don't want to be anchoring with a truck tire and all that. Light, simple and robust is what I'm after...
 
I had a couple of the ones that you can mount to a tire and even the cheap hand throwers. They work, but not very well. They often need modification to avoid breaking clays and loading the spring gets tiresome.

Last year I picked up the Trius One Step. This one you engage the spring and fire with your foot. It throws singles very well and doubles okay, all be it a little slow. You can operate alone but a partner makes it much more fun and challenging. I ended up shooting several hundred more clays than I normally do in a summer just because of this unit. It works flawlessly and seems very robust in construction. There is videos on line and they are readily available at most bigger outdoor stores. If you are looking at shooting a couple cases of clays a year, this would probably provide a lifetime of enjoyment.

With that said, these units are not exactly light, a little awkward to carry around and not cheap at nearly $200. I now have my eye on a Champion automatic trap and wish I had the money from this unit and the couple hundred I wasted on the other cheap units over the years. I would have been much better served (as usual) to buy the one I really wanted to begin with.
 
X2 for the Trius One Step
For Christmas last year, the woman gave me a Trius one step. Neither of us are big into clay shooting but we are progressing into it more and more because of this unit. It is simple to use, easily adjustable and can do doubles. I think smaller clays are needed for further thrown doubles. You can easily shoot on your own or have someone else step on it, its a pretty solid unit, seems to be very well build.
Last time I had a couple friends in town who wanted to go clay shooting, they brought their own throwers but all we used was the trius.
All I’ve noticed is that it needs a consistent step.
 
I've got the trius one step as well as a simple hinged hand thrower, the one step works well if you're alone but I get much more use out of the hand thrower, there's often 3 of us and we'll have 2 guys throwing at the same time
 
Have you considered going to your local range. Pay a little money and let them throw the clays. As long as the grouchy old farts aren't to thick on the ground it should be a good time. In mithers we have one trap almost always on wobble just so people can come and have fun. The grouchy old farts shoot trap at the other.
 
Thanks for the replies, reinforces what I’ve been thinking brand wise... bdft, thought we’d try to sharpen up a bit before hitting our range. A little stuffy, tea and crumpets kinda crowd.... I will get there tho lol
 
I would wager that I have shot about 1000 shells in the past year - I too have a busy schedule and a job that takes me away from home quite frequently. 800 of those shells were fired at clays thrown by a hand thrower. Yes it requires a friend (sometimes the girlfriend gets roped in to coming along and shooting a box or two) but it's incredibly convenient and compact, and you can set up anywhere where it is safe to shoot. The trajectory of the clays is determined by the thrower which adds some challenge, but I do find they are much slower than the trap machine and it takes some practice to get the clays to fly where you want them. I don't often take the BT-99 out to shoot hand thrown targets as it is almost too easy..

When I was younger I used to climb down over the bank at the range and pick up the unbroken clays to throw them again with a hand thrower when the trap field wasn't open - had money to spend on shells but not on targets and the old fellas at the range didn't mind!

I highly recommend you try the hand thrower - they are only 20 bucks so it's not too great of an investment and I guarantee you'll have a blast.
 
dak47 said:
Thanks for the replies, reinforces what I’ve been thinking brand wise... bdft, thought we’d try to sharpen up a bit before hitting our range. A little stuffy, tea and crumpets kinda crowd.... I will get there tho lol
Click to expand...

Sometimes ranges are not as fun as shooting (safely) on your own in the bush. You get looked at sideways on the line unless you have a Browning, anything black is not welcome, minimum barrel lengths for 'safety', can't load the mag tube, etc etc.
PLUS, typically the range will only have 1 day per week that the machines are operational, so if you're not available to make the drive out there on that day you're SOL.
 
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